There was a time when fans evaluated trades on the merits of the players. That time passed long ago, consigned to nostalgia by free agency and fantasy leagues, by wildly escalating player salaries and ticket prices, and most notably by the era of information and opinion at a click. The Angels traded for an outfielder last week. No one seemed to care how good he might be, or whom the Angels gave up to get him. No, this was the analysis: Vernon Wells has $86 million left on his contract, and the Angels traded for him. Are they nuts?

Wayne Gretzky will turn 50 on Wednesday, a sobering thought for fans who remember when a skinny blond teenager came out of the renegade World Hockey Assn. to rewrite the NHL record books and lead the high-scoring Edmonton Oilers' dynasty during the 1980s. Gretzky became the face of the game in the United States after he was traded to the Kings in 1988, and there could not have been a better ambassador to spread the gospel of hockey. His brilliance was breathtaking but could be subtle ?

Dan Rooney, chairman of the Pittsburgh Steelers, isn't directly involved in negotiations between NFL owners and players, but he's concerned about the lack of progress and where that could lead. "We should have a deal," Rooney said Friday, speaking at Steelers headquarters to three reporters who cover the league on a national basis. "We should not let the disruption of next season happen because of a lockout, a strike, or whatever. . . . It's in everybody's best interest to get a deal.

Imagine if Drew Brees and Brett Favre were teammates. For a moment, they were. Minutes before the New Orleans Saints and Minnesota Vikings kicked off the 2010 season at the Superdome, the players for both teams stepped off the sidelines toward each other and raised one finger to the sky. It was a show of NFL Players Assn. solidarity — a message that "we are one" — and a very public reminder to team owners that players are united in negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement.

He has presided over the Lakers since 1979, turning the franchise into one of the most successful in sports. And for that, for all he has done to uplift the NBA, the Lakers and the game of basketball, Lakers owner Jerry Buss will be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame on Friday in Springfield, Mass. He will be joined in the class of 2010 by Scottie Pippen, Karl Malone, Cynthia Cooper and high school coach Bob Hurley Sr. The 1992 U.S. men's Olympic basketball team known as the "Dream Team," which included Lakers Hall of Famer Magic Johnson and the 1960 team that included another Lakers Hall of Famer, Jerry West, also will be inducted.

Frank and Jamie McCourt agree on this much: For the sake of their four sons, they would prefer to settle their divorce, to avoid a trial in which father and mother would testify against each other. If Frank loses at trial, he could lose the Dodgers, and the chance to pass ownership of the team to his sons. If Jamie loses, she could be left without a penny from a team that generates hundreds of millions of dollars every year. The party who loses could launch an appeal process that could last several years, leaving the ownership and financial resources of the Dodgers uncertain as such key players as Andre Ethier, Matt Kemp and James Loney approach free agency.

To many team owners and sports executives outside of baseball, George Steinbrenner was more than the top man at the New York Yankees. He was the quintessential New York model. "He turned the Yankees into the New York Yankees Corporation," said Eddie DeBartolo, a close friend of Steinbrenner's and former owner of the San Francisco 49ers. "He put them in a place beyond anybody's reachability. It transcended baseball." Steinbrenner, who died Tuesday of a heart attack, headed a small group of investors who bought the struggling Yankees from CBS in 1973 for roughly $10 million.

The National Football League is not a single business shielded from U.S. antitrust laws, the Supreme Court ruled Monday, dealing a setback to sports leagues that seek to closely control the marketing of their teams and their spin-off merchandise. The 9-0 ruling leaves the owners of most pro sports teams subject to being sued if they agree among themselves to restrict competition between the teams over the sale of merchandise. The ruling reinstates an antitrust suit filed by a suburban Chicago maker of stocking caps that lost its right to use NFL logos on its caps.

Lakers owner Jerry Buss on Monday was elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame for the role he has played in helping to shape today's NBA. He will be inducted with the Class of 2010 on Aug. 13 in Springfield, Mass. Buss bought the Lakers in 1979 and has presided over nine NBA championships, including last season. The Lakers have been to 15 NBA Finals during his ownership. Entering this season, the Lakers had the NBA's highest overall regular-season winning percentage (66%)